


Spector

by GRINtelligencer



Series: Salvage [4]
Category: Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Divergence - Order 66, Canon-Typical Violence, Description of Injuries, Dissociation, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Order 66 Happened Differently (Star Wars), Order 66 feels, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GRINtelligencer/pseuds/GRINtelligencer
Summary: There are some things between Cody and Obi-Wan that need to be said. Things Cody badly needs to say. But first, Obi-Wan needs to actually be awake.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: Salvage [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931338
Comments: 32
Kudos: 444





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> At last Obi-Wan gets to break his streak of being unconscious in every fic. Next chapter is slated for Cody and him actually having that talk they need to but this felt like it needed to come first.  
>  Also first officially tagged pairing! I have a great weakness for Obi-Wan/Cody, combat husbands.

Obi-Wan knew he was being moved, the hands that picked him up were careful but his injuries still flared with pain. Distantly he heard someone make a pained sound, it was probably him, he couldn’t be sure.

The world seemed oddly removed, he couldn’t concentrate enough to use the Force to numb the pain. His thoughts kept smearing sideways, it made it hard to focus on the present, to keep his awareness on his surroundings.

He’d been still for some hours, Cody a warm presence beside him, the familiar flare of 212th troopers nearby. But now, movement, sounds, the feel of unfamiliar clones’ signatures in the force. 

Hands were on the bandages around his chest and a medic’s muttered curses, not the 212th’s medic, but a recognizable litany all the same.

Being moved made it hard to focus, he lost track of time, lost track of the world around him, he reached for Cody’s signature and couldn’t quite find it. Without that anchor he drifted, unable to pull himself back, mind pulling him back into the swirl of memories and he can’t--

Can’t focus--

Can’t--

_ \--Cody handed him his lightsaber, he smiled down at him as he took it. Boga shifted eagerly, the varactyl eager to be off again-- _

_ The sound of the GAR heavy cannon was one Obi-Wan recognized quite easily after so many years, as was the whistle of the shell. He barely had time to look up as it hit the sinkhole wall just above them, sending Boga flying and-- _

_ He screamed as they hit a rock outcrop, his leg caught between the wall and Boga’s saddle, twisting unnaturally with the impact. The varactyl keened in pain and tumbled down, toward more rocks, claws scrabbling desperately on the stone, trying to gain purchase. _

_ When they hit the next outcropping he was thrown into the wall, the impact reverberating through his chest. No air to cry out. _

_ He felt the ribs break-- _

_ The water at the bottom of the sinkhole was so cold he saw stars when he hit it, then Boga’s flails tossed his leg free from where it had become wedged in the stirrup, the jostling sending a dart of agony through him. _

_ Boga’s claws made contact as she struggled to orient herself in the water, he felt them tearing past cloth, sinking into skin. But then she seemed to have figured out which was up and was off, swimming in swift strokes. _

_ As best he could he gave the pain to the Force and swam to the surface-- _

_ Perched in the rocks above the pool he looked down at Cody, standing just below. There was something  _ wrong  _ about him. Not just in the stance, the curt orders to the squad to fan out for the search, the way he called the troopers by their designations. Something  _ wrong _ in the Force. _

_ It twisted oddly around him, trying to cling close but kept at bay by something dark, something in his head. _

_ For years now Cody had stood by his side, through battle and death, he had always been a bright light in the Force, something Obi-Wan could reach for. An anchor to pull the rest of the world into order. _

_ First and foremost they were Jedi Master and Clone Commander but after that… there was love and affection and undeniable attachment. It was a quiet thing they had, born in small gestures and what few moments were theirs alone but he’d thought they both held it dear, treasured it closely. _

_ And yet… _

_ Someone had fired on him. It hadn’t been an accident. Cody had ordered his men to look for his body. Had named the Jedi traitors to the Republic in those same orders. _

_ Obi-Wan saw nothing familiar in Cody’s stiff posture, his clipped words, the complete flatness of emotion from him. _

_ The Force cried out for him to act. _

_ Obi-Wan pulled on it for strength and-- _

_ It had only worked because he caught Cody completely off guard. He would have never gotten him on the ground without the advantage of surprise. _

_ Before Cody could even register someone was dropping on him Obi-Wan swung, pulling on the Force to give him more strength, fist connecting with his temple. Helmet impacted the head it protected as his knuckles sparked pain and his commander dropped like a stone. _

_ Clutching his ribs Obi-Wan let his managed leg fold, taking him down to his knees next to Cody. With shaking hands he pulled off Cody’s helmet, cupping his head, where the dark feeling lurked, trying to chase it down. _

_ He couldn’t focus on it and give the pain to the Force at the same time. He was going to have to let go of one to do the other. _

_ Taking a deep breath he dropped the pain blocking and dove into Cody’s mind, searching out the feeling of wrong before the pain could paralyze him. The speck of darkness was small but unmistakable now that he was looking, hidden deep in Cody’s brain. _

_ Ruthlessly he grabbed it and exerted all the pressure he could. _

_ Finally there was a  _ crunch _ and the darkness vanished. _

_ He sagged in relief, then hissed in pain as his leg and chest lit up in agony-- _

_ Ambush had allowed him to free the next trooper as well, Gale had seen him slumped at Cody’s side and come in close. Obi-Wan had used the time to give as much pain to the Force as he could, knowing he wouldn’t be able to to soon.  _

_ When Gale reached down to roll him over Obi-Wan struck, grabbing the man’s head and reaching into his mind. The pain screamed through him but he knew what he was looking for now, knew to reach for that tiny point of darkness and  _ squeeze _ \-- _

_ It should have occurred to him that Gale wouldn’t have come close if he was alone, not without a trooper to cover him. He was lucky that Moth always aimed high and his shot went well over his head when he ducked. _

_ Gale was still slumped forward, clutching his head, eyes wide and shocked behind his visor. They were too tangled up for him to roll free, he couldn’t risk Moth firing again. Throwing a hand out he pulled the blaster from his surprised grip, flinging it toward the water. _

_ Undaunted Moth threw himself forward to push Gale off him, hands going for this throat as he snarled. A mistake, Obi-Wan reflected distantly, it put his head in grabbing range and-- _

_ He freed the next trooper when they ran around the corner and straight into his ambush-- _

_ And the next when Speakeasy-- _

_ And the next when-- _

_ And the-- _

_ Something crunched in his shoulder as he hit the rock wall, his whole arm went numb. It was going to be agony when he had to let go of the pain blocking. Stutter screamed at him, the stutter that had earned him his name gone under his rage, “Good solider follow  _ orders _!” _

_ He made to charge forward but hands came up, grabbed him. Moth and Gale, clinging to their brother, forcing him to his knees. Obi-Wan went to take the step forward he needed and his leg gave out-- _

_ It turned out he didn’t need both hands to feel for the thing controlling Stutter, just one and desperation was enough. _

_ He collapsed forward when the darkness was snuffed out, trying to push his pain into the Force again. It just won’t go, agony too deeply entrenched. _

_ The only reason he was upright at all was Stutter’s grip on his arms, his voice is all concern and stutters when he spoke. “G-General, are y-you…” _

_ Obi-Wan can’t quite make out the rest of the words, can’t quite focus on-- _

_ There are hands, touching his cheeks gently, brushing his hair back from his face. “General.” Cody’s voice is laced with concern, with care, “ _ Obi-Wan _. Please. Open your eyes.” _

_ He manages, somehow and is rewarded with the sight of Cody looking down at him. Something about his felt different but he couldn’t quite tell… there was too much pain to reach to his through the Force. “Try to stay awake.” Cody told him, then, looking over his shoulder at the trooper he was propped against. “We need to move. Now. Help me get him up.” _

_ They started to shift him and he choked-- _

_ He was being carried on someone’s back as they crouched behind cover. In a distance he couldn’t quite focus on white forms marched by, precise and regimented. _

_ There was a wave design on the shoulder plate his cheek was pressed against, golden curving lines familiar. He must have made some sort of noise because Gale’s helmet turned toward him a little and he whispered, “Shh, General, we have to be quiet until the patrol passes.”-- _

_ “Now!” Moth hissed and they lurch forward, out of cover, the patrol running for the transport. _

_ Each step Gale takes jolts Obi-Wan, making him gasp, chest throbbing and protesting. His left leg feels like it’s on fire, he still can’t feel his arm but his shoulder is alive with pain. Something in his chest is a bright shard of agony and he can’t focus enough to block it out-- _

_ The familiar feeling of fight straps around his chest, Cody’s voice, sounding upset as he realized Obi-Wan’s tunics were wet with blood as well as water. _

_ There’s the sound of fabric tearing and something being pressed to his stomach. _

_ “I don’t know where.” Cody snaps, “Just get us off planet then we’ll figure it out.”-- _

_ The ship banks left sharply, the men swear as they’re thrown to the side, Obi-Wan can’t stop the pained sound. _

_ “I’m going to have to get close to the moon!” Speakeasy yells back from the pilot seat, “See if I can loose them in these clouds!” _

_ There’s the sound of cannon fire-- _

_ “They’ll hit their own transport if they don’t stop!” Moth screams, “Stop it you idiot--” _

_ The explosion is muffled by distance but unmistakable. The shot that hit them comes only moments later-- _

_ He thinks they crash? He can’t tell, he can’t get his eyes to open-- _

_ He’s being pulled, dragged free of something, across what feels like sand-- _

_ He’s being settled onto a cot, a sharp sting of a needle and painkillers easing the pain down a little-- _

_ He can feel them all around, familiar sparks in the Force. Waiting, hoping, though for what he can’t tell. He tries to push through, to open his eyes, he needs to speak to the men, tell them-- _

_ Unfamiliar  presences , someone pulling the bandages from his chest and swearing a medic’s swears-- _

_ He’s being moved. Distantly he heard someone make a pained sound, it was probably him, he couldn’t be sure. _

_ Being moved made it hard to focus, he lost track of time, lost track of the world around him, reached for Cody’s signature and couldn’t quite find it. He reeled, anchor lost-- _

_ Cody handed him his lightsaber and he smiled down at-- _

_ The cannon blast hits the cliff and they fall-- _

_ He hits the wall-- _

_ Hits the water-- _

_ Cody is standing down below, the Force twisting around him wrong-- _

_ His fist hitting Cody’s helmet-- _

_ Grabbing Gale when he leaned down-- _

_ He used the Force to pull the blaster from Moth’s hands-- _

_ Crushing the spot of darkness in Speakeasy’s mind-- _

_ The pain flaring as he stopped blocking to-- _

_ Another trooper free-- _

_ Another-- _

_ Moth and Gale pulling Stutter upright for him-- _

_ Collapsing forward, into Stutter, the trooper trying to prop him up-- _

_ He looked up into Cody’s face, alive again, eyes concerned-- _

_ There’s a wave painted on Gale’s shoulder plate, golden lines-- _

_ Running across the-- _

_ He’s being strapped into his seat, Cody finding the blood on his tunic-- _

_ Speakeasy shouts as the ship banks sharply-- _

“One.”

_ The explosion when they’re hit-- _

“Two.”

_ Do they crash? He isn’t sure-- _

“Three.”

_ He’s being pulled across the sand, settled onto a cot-- _

“Lift.”

_ New sparks in the Force around him, he reaches for Cody, always steady at his side and-- _

“Good. Now down.”

The pain punches the air out of his lungs, making him gasp. He’s set down the… cot? There’s the scratch of starched sheets, the smell of disinfectant.

He can’t get his eyes to open, can’t focus. He reaches out in the Force and there’s nothing to catch himself on--

_ Cody hands him his lightsaber-- _

_ The cannon-- _

_ “ _ Hold him still, we’re going to need to tank him. Fletch, prep a bacta tube!”

_ Impact with the cliff-- _

“His heart rate is through the roof, get some--”

“Commander, get over here, we need another set of hands!”

_ The water was so cold-- _

“What’s going on?”

“Hold his arm, we need to--”

_ The Force is twisting wrong around Cody-- _

Obi-Wan opened his eyes and Cody’s face looked down at him, brow pinched in concern. He had to-- to--

For some reason Cody was pinning his arm to the cot so he lifted the other, he had to reach, had to break the thing in his mind.

There were other voices, other clones --perhaps medics?

“What is he--”

“Sir, lie still!”

“You’re going to--”

But he moved too fast, grabbing at Cody before they could stop him. They didn’t understand, this was  _ vital _ . He had to reach Cody.

His hand grabbed at Cody’s head, fingers sinking into his hair to he could pull him closer.

Cody winced but allowed it, holding up a hand to stop an advancing medic. “Wait. General-- Obi-Wan, can you hear me?”

He couldn’t get distracted, he had to--

For a breathless moment he couldn’t form enough control to direct the Force and panic clutched at him. Then it came, flowing into Cody’s mind and finding… nothing. No patch of darkness.

“It’s alright.” Cody said. “You did it. I’m me.” He brought up a hand to cover the one clutching at him. “Obi-Wan, you need to let go, let the medics work. You’re hurt.”

There was none of the blankness in his eyes from before, none of the numbness in the Force around him. In fact he was radiating such sadness and grief into the Force that Obi-Wan didn’t want to let go. But Cody was already gently prying his fingers open, “You’ve got to let go. They have got to put you under to tank you.”

There was a flare on panic in his chest, if he lost consciousness again he was going to lose where he was again, going to back to Utapau instead of… wherever this was.

Unless--

“…stay?” he croaked, with what little breath he could manage. Why was it so hard to breath?

Cody disentangled the last strand of his hair from his fingers and held Obi-Wan’s hand, his expression softening. “Yeah. I will.”

Obi-Wan reached out through the Force, wrapping Cody’s presence around him like a blanket. That calm, anchoring aura, even shaded with uncertainty and guilt as it was, gave him something to hold onto. Something to make his marker for the present.

To the side he saw a medic push something into an IV line. He hadn’t noticed the arm Cody had been pinning down had a needle in it but he felt the coldness as it--

The world became blurry around the edges--

He held tight to his link to Cody--

And fell, not into the past this time but into the soft embrace of unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cody and Obi-Wan have that talk that they really need to have. There's not enough time, but then again, there never really is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place both pre and post Marching On. It felt quite odd to write the pre-Marching On Rex. Poor fellow. 
> 
> I ended up splitting off the end of this into its own chapter, since I wanted this to focus more on Cody and Obi-Wan in this chapter, so the chapter count is up by one.

About an hour after his General had been put into bacta Rex had shown up in the doorway, taken one look at Cody, rolled his eyes, and ducked out. He returned a few minutes later to throw a fresh pair of blacks at his head and toss a pack of wipes on the table.

“You smell like moon dust.” he said, with the cheerfulness of someone running of too little sleep. “And I know you won’t leave.”

Cody scowled at him. “I told him I wouldn’t.”

“Romantic.” Rex said, he was smiling but the shadows of exhaustion were clear on his face. The idiot would keep running on leftover adrenaline and stubbornness for a few more hours then he’d collapse somewhere, Cody just knew it. He’d seen him pace the  _ Negotiator _ more than once.

There were shadows in Rex’s eyes that Cody didn’t like one bit, he still hadn’t heard more than the bare bones of what had happened with him and Ahsoka but he hoped that Rex would manage to get his head down at some point.

Knuckles wrapped against his shoulder plate, bringing his back to the present to look up at Rex. They had been doing that since they were cadets, something small they could do without the trainers noticing, a quiet  _ “Hey, it’s going to be okay” _ between them.

Rex looked from the figure of Cody’s general in the tank to him, frowning. “Something happen before he went under?”

“I don’t think he knew…” Cody sighed, shaking his head. “I think he wasn’t sure when he was. Felt like he was trying to break my chip again.” he rubbed the side of his head where the roots of his hair still ached a little from where Obi-Wan had grabbed hold.

“Did you get through to him before the medics put him under?”

“Maybe, I--” he stopped, rubbed his head again, “For a moment he looked at me and maybe he saw me, maybe he--” with a huff he dropped his hand. “I have this feeling now. In my head.”

“Force stuff?” Rex asked.

“Probably.” he said. “It’s not bad, it’s sort of like… like someone’s holding my hand but in my head, if that makes any sense.”

“It really dosen’t.”

He shrugged. “Force stuff.” he echoed, making Rex snort.

“You sound like you’re worried about it.” Rex said. Not an accusation, just a statement. 

“I’m not, I just… I don’t know if distance matters. And,” Cody looked down and stopped pretending he had anything like dignity left, “He did ask me not to go.”

Surprisingly Rex didn’t call him a romantic again. “Then you keep watch.” he said instead, as if it was as simple as that. “There’s a tactical meeting in a few, with Ahsoka, Commander Wolffe, and General Koon. I’ll send you the notes.”

He felt a twinge of guilt, he should be there helping with the plans to help his men.

As if he read his mind Rex added, “It’s just broad strokes, everyone’s probably too tired to do more than that. Five credits someone falls asleep on the table.”

“I’ll take that bet.” he said, but couldn’t quite muster the cheer that should have come with it. “There’ll be a morning meeting?

“Probably.” Rex said. The quirk of his eyebrow said he noticed Cody’s slip even if he didn’t comment. “If we time it right we can have it before Kenobi goes down for his second tanking. Unless…” he glanced at the tube again, “Is it going to be a problem, him waking up? I remember how Anakin was. He would break half the--”

He paused. Seemed to register that he’d spoken in past tense.

And something seemed to fracture behind his eyes, all the humor fading away. In that moment he looked lost, tired, and like he had no idea what to do next.

Cody rose to grab his arms, giving him a little shake. “Hey.  _ Hey _ . Don’t be like that. Skywalker  _ is _ fine.” he said, stressing the present tense. “We both know how he is, he’s managed to survive all kinds of impossible things.”

“Yeah.” Rex said, though he looked to the side as he said it, eyes going dark. “I know. I just can’t-- I have to stay here, do this. I can’t think about it now. If I start thinking about it now--” he stopped, and a fine shudder ran through him, making him close his eyes for a moment. 

Cody watched as he pushed it down, packed it away, and forced his eyes back open. “There’s work to do.” he said firmly. “I can’t afford to get distracted.”

It was Cody’s turn to knock his knuckles against Rex’s pauldron. “Alright. If that’s what you want. Now don’t you have to meeting to get to?”

That got him a snort from Rex but he was already stepping away. “I’ll send a trooper with an armor cleaning kit. Yours looks like you crawled across that moon.” He left with a wave and Cody looked down at his armor.

For the first time he saw the red brown streaks on his armor, across his bracers and smeared on his chestplate. Obi-Wan’s blood.

His stomach lurched and he had to clench his teeth and fight the rising nausea. It wasn’t that it was blood, his armor had been soaked in it more often then he wanted to think of, even Obi-Wan had bled on him before. But when Obi-Wan bled on him it wasn’t usually his fault.

Under the chip’s control Cody had turned on him in an instant.

He pressed his hands to his forehead and breathed deep. He tried to focus on the gentle presence in the back of his mind, of Obi-Wan holding onto him.

After everything that had happened, the least he owed him was to keep it together until he was awake.

With the new energy that resolution brought him he started stripping off his armor, tossing it into a pile. He swapped his old blacks for the pair Rex had brought, taking the opportunity for as much of a wipedown as he could manage. It wasn’t a shower but it at least made him feel less gritty.

By that time a 104th trooper had come and gone, leaving an armor cleaning kit and a datapad that was already pinging with notes from Rex.

With the datapad balanced in his lap he started the laborious task of getting moon sand and blood off his armor. There wasn’t much he could do about the dents and scratches but he could at least get the grime off.

It kept his hands busy as he read through Rex’s dutiful notes, smiling a little at the occasional typo. For Rex to be making that many spelling errors he had to be well and truly exhausted.

When Cody settled the last piece of armor back on the final message pinged through.

_ Done with real planning. All hypotheticals now.  _

_ Wolffe is asleep on Gen. Plo’s shoulder. He SNORES?? _

Cody could almost feel the outrage coming through the datapad. At least Wolffe hadn’t passed out on the table, Cody’s credits were safe.

Scooting his chair closer to the bacta tube Cody settled back, scrolling back to the beginning of the notes to read again. He didn’t even notice when his eyes drifted closed between one paragraph and the next.

\---

Cody woke at the sound of the medic scuffing his boot pointedly as he walked into the room. Instantly he was aware of and regretted the extremely uncomfortable angle he’d ended up sleep at, fallen sideways against the bacta tube. He probably should have known better than to assume he could just close his eyes for a moment without falling asleep. Still, he would have thought he would have known better than to wedge his head at that angle, his neck was really annoyed with him.

That feeling in his mind was still there, that quiet connection that seemed to radiate affection and care. 

Not that Cody deserved that sort of assurance, not after firing on his own general, his own partner.

If Obi-Wan hadn’t managed to knock him out he would have shot him, caught up in the chip’s influence. He’d been so sure it was right, that the Jedi were traitors to be killed for the good of the Republic.

By now he’d heard the stories from Rex and Wolffe,  _ they’d _ managed to resist the chips, at least for a little. Long enough to allow their Jedi to escape or save them. But he’d ordered his men to fire on Obi-Wan without a second’s pause.

It was all too likely he was going to spend the rest of his life trying to make up for that.

Cody rubbed at the crick in his neck and eyed the medic, Stitches. “Morning shift?”

The medic gave him an entirely unamused look, which seemed to be his default. “Mid-morning.” he said. “Noon shift’s coming up soon.” Going over to the bacta tube he looked over the readouts and nodded approval. “Going to de-tank him for a bit, check progress. Do I need to call extra hands in here to hold him or worry about things flying around when he wakes up?”

He considered the feeling he was getting through that connection, it didn’t have any of the panic or fear he’d seen on Obi-Wan’s face when he’d woken before. Just a quiet connection, a light hold on the edges of his awareness. “Likely no to both.” he said, then remembered what had happened in the past when Obi-Wan had woken up in disoriented medical and added, “No crowds is better.”

Stitches, nodded, accepting that without questioning it. With brisk efficiency he went through the tank draining protocols. In minutes he had the bacta emptied and Obi-Wan settled on a cot. One quick rubdown later Obi-Wan was redressed in a clean tunic and Stitches was doing a vitals check.

He seemed happy with what he found and moved on to redoing the IV in Obi-Wan’s arm. Grabbing the port injected something, checking his work carefully before moving away.

“Give it a few minutes and he should be coming around.” Stitches said then fixed Cody with a very knowing look. “Here’s what’s going to happen, Commander. I’m going to stand outside for ten minutes. Anything happens, he starts coughing blood, something falls off, you yell for me. When those ten minutes end I come back in to do an injury check, no arguments.” He gave him a gimlet glare, “And no funny business in my medbay.”

Cody could the blush that was creeping up his cheeks.

The medic’s knife edge grin said he’d noticed but he spared Cody the mercy of not saying anything as he left.

He was reminded intensely of when he’d tried to tell Rex about the two of them and been met with a similar grin. Rex had rolled his eyes when he looked surprised and said, “I know. You two are quiet about it, vod, but you’re not  _ subtle _ .”

If it earned him this bit of privacy Cody supposed he couldn’t complain too much. He took a seat on the edge of the cot, Obi-Wan looked better than he had before being tanked but he was still pale and drawn to Cody’s eye.

“Hey.” he said softly, “I don’t know if you can hear me yet but you’re safe. We’re in the  _ Faithful _ ’s medbay, everyone here’s been cleared of control.” he reached out to push Obi-Wan’s damp hair out of his eyes, letting his hand linger there since there was no one to see.

The feeling in his mind changed, a little like the hand was squeezing his. Obi-Wan’s breathing changed, hitching, and he stirred, leaning into Cody’s hand.

His eyes opened, slowly focusing on him.

Since he was expecting it Cody was able to stop his forward lurch to sit up with a hand to his chest, pinning him to the cot. “Whoa there, give it a second.” He saw the pain flicker across Obi-Wan’s face and snorted, “Yeah, you’re hurt pretty bad. Don’t go moving too fast.”

“… Cody?” Obi-Wan’s voice was a rasp. His arm twitched and Cody took his hand off his chest so he could raise his hand to his head. Obi-Wan’s fingers cupped his face gently and Cody felt a warm sensation run through his mind that he could only assume was Obi-Wan checking with the Force. “It’s… gone.”

“You broke it.” he said, “The control chips, they had a command programmed in. Order 66. To execute the Jedi by order of the Chancellor.”

“The…” Obi-Wan’s brow furrowed. “I don’t…”

“Palpatine is the Sith lord.” Cody said. “He was playing both sides of the war.”

The breath caught in Obi-Wan’s chest and Cody watched as his expression shifted, the slow dawning horror as he put together all the pieces and saw the full scope of the trap. Breathing deep he closed his eyes, frowning in the way that Cody knew meant he was concentrating, reaching out with the Force.

After a beat he opened his eyes, which were overbright. “So few…” he said quietly. “All scattered.”

“Commander Tano and General Koon are here. Both safe.” Cody offered, knowing it wasn’t enough. How could it be enough when Cody’s own brothers had turned on the Jedi? What could he offer his partner after that?

From the way Obi-Wan’s expression softened he had caught some of that or maybe just read it off his face. “Cody, you can’t blame yourself for--”

“No.” Cody hadn’t expected his voice to come out so sharply, sharp enough Obi-Wan flinched a little. Cody squeezed the hand Obi-Wan still held cupped to his cheek and tried to gentle his tone but found that it only made them come out bitter, “Please, I-- you here, this  _ is _ my fault.”

“You weren’t you.” Obi-Wan said quietly.

“I still gave the order to fire! Commander Tano and General Koon are here because Rex and Wolffe resisted their chips. I didn’t pause. Not for a second. I just gave the order.”

“I felt your mind when you were being controlled. I know if you’d had a choice you wouldn’t have done it.” Obi-Wan added. His tone was so kriffing gentle, it felt like sandpaper on Cody’s skin. He didn’t deserve any of this

“You don’t understand, it’s--” he broke off with a sigh, then glanced toward the door. “We only have a few minutes until Stitches comes back. I don’t--”

Obi-Wan pulled at him, “Come here. Let me…” He leaned up as Cody leaned down and their foreheads touched.

It was like he put his finger on a live wire, he could feel the hum of power through his mind as Obi-Wan open connection between them wide. He felt his mind slip into Obi-Wan’s--

_ \-- warmth, care, the kind of love that was a hand on his shoulder on the battlefield, arms around him at night, the hum of lightsaber cutting a missile in half just in time. Relief at still having this, having him-- _

_ \--anger, shame,  _ guilt _. He didn’t deserve this, not after such a betrayal. Not after the boom of the heavy cannon, the fall of rocks into the water at the bottom of the sinkhole, the way he’d gone to collect a body without a second thought. He didn’t deserve-- _

_ \--forgiveness, care. You do, you deserve this and more. So much more than I could ever give you. _

_ \--I hurt you. I said I would never-- _

_ \--I knew it wasn’t-- you would never-- not if you were you. _

_ \--Guilt. Even if you forgive me, I can’t-- I can’t forgive myself. I should have fought it-- _

_ \--Alright. _

_ \--Alright? _

_ \--I know I can’t force you to-- but I can be here. Until you can. If you want, Cody. _

_ \--Kriff, of course I want, Obi-Wan. I always want. _

_ \--A wry amusement. I’m glad. I would miss you otherwise. _

Someone cleared their throat, loud and pointed. They both started then moved apart on instinct, Obi-Wan hissing as the movement pulled at still healing injuries.

In Cody’s mind the connection dimmed, down to the feeling of before, the hand holding his. 

It was enough.

Stitches strode in, the expression on his face the one of a complete professional who had seen nothing, nothing at all, he swore.

“Commander.” he greeted Cody, voice neutral. “General Kenobi.”

“Stitches, I presume.” Obi-Wan and made to sit up only to be stopped a second time by Cody’s hand to his chest.

“Wait until I give you more painkillers before you try that, sir.” Stitches said. “I need to check your injuries, see how much they healed up after the bacta.” Before Obi-Wan could object to the first part he was injecting something into his IV line.

The effect was almost instantaneous, the pain lines at the corners of Obi-Wan’s eyes lessoned and Cody saw the way his shoulders untensed, just a little. While he always complained about painkillers but Cody knew that when he was in a lot of pain he couldn’t use that Force painblocking trick he was so fond of and moving that suddenly couldn’t have helped.

With the same brisk efficiency he’d shown before Stitches checked Obi-Wan’s vitals, then moved on to inspect the fresh pink healing skin over his stomach wound. He pulled over a scanner to do an abdominal scan and nodded thoughtfully at the results.  
With Cody’s help they got Obi-Wan sitting up and when that didn’t result in disaster got him sitting on the edge of the bed. There Stitches ran him through a series of tests to see how well his shoulder was doing, before going on to prod at his leg. After testing each joint, an act that made Obi-Wan drop at least one shade of skin tone, he made some notes on a datapad.

“You’re healing up as well as can be expected, sir.” He said. “Lacerations are good and closed, the rest of the bruising is fairly minor now. You’ll have limited range of movement in that shoulder for a bit, probably more will come back after the next session in bacta. Your insides are where they should be for now but I wouldn’t trust that to hold up under strain. And I want that leg in a full brace until you go back into bacta.”

“I hardly think that’s necessary,” Obi-Wan said. 

Stitches fixed him with a supremely unimpressed look. “Sir, with all due respect, do you want to ever walk without a limp?”

Obi-Wan’s lips thinned and he glanced down at his leg. “You make a persuasive point.”

“Keep the brace on and keep off it and we’ll see what the second bacta treatment does. Either way your knee is always going to tell you when there’s rain coming.” Stitches said, stepping over to the door he called a request into the general medbay for a leg brace.

Cody’s com chirruped and he raised his arm to answer it. The blue form of Commander Tano appeared above his wrist. “Cody, hello.” she said with a smile, “This is a reminder that we have a followup tactics meeting in twenty minutes. Is Master Obi-Wan out yet?”

Leaning forward Obi-Wan put himself into the com’s pickup range and her smile widened, “Master Obi-Wan! I’m glad you’re awake. I’ll be down to medical in ten minutes, I’d like to go over some things with you before the meeting.” She paused, her expression falling a little, “If that’s alright?”

“Of course it is.” Obi-Wain, his smile was tired but genuine. “I’m glad to see you as well, Ahsoka.”

Her smile regained its brightness and she signed off just as Stitches returned,

The medic made quick work about getting the brace on Obi-Wan’s leg, though he was careful about how he moved it Obi-Wan still looked a little grey when he finished. The creases were back at the corners of his eyes, deeper than before.

“Two hours.” Stitches said firmly, going to disconnect the IV. “Then you come back here and go back into bacta. Please don’t make me have to track you down, sir.”

“I wouldn't dream of inconveniencing you.” Obi-Wan said, in that carefully polite way that said Cody would absolutely have to keep an eye on him when the time came to return. At least with the brace on his leg he’d be slower than usual.

A trooper appeared in the door to give Stitches a bundle of fabric before ducking back out. Taking the bundle Stitches waved at the closed door at the back of the room. “There’s a ‘fresher through there, sir. I imagine you’d want to get the rest of the bacta off. Don’t worry about the brace, it’s waterproof.”

He handed Cody the bundle, which turned out to be a set of Jedi tunics. “Some of General Plo’s spares.” Stitches said, “I imagine they’ll be a little big but it’s these or blacks.”

“Thank you--” Obi-Wan started but Stitches wasn’t done.

“I’ll have a chair waiting for you when you’re cleaned up.” he said and leveled a finger at Cody before Obi-Wan could protest. “No fighting, no funny business, no exercise. Try to get him to drink water and keep off the leg.”

Cody nodded, well familiar with the lecture after years of Curse, the 212th’s chief medic reciting it. Though Curse usually added in more invectives.

He felt a twinge of sadness at the thought that Curse wouldn’t be doing that, not until they returned to free him. In his mind the connection that was Obi-Wan sent across a tendril of comfort, the faint feeling of  _ ‘Soon’ _ .

“Understood, Stitches.” Obi-Wan said, as if he’d been the one the medic had actually addressed.

The look Stitches gave him said he was deeply skeptical about the likelihood of Obi-Wan following those orders and he’d given the to Cody for a reason. But all he actually said aloud was a neutral, “Sir.”

Giving them a nod he turned and left them alone.

Obi-Wan tried to shift from the edge of the cot and lost a little more of the color in his face before going still. “I… I think I need assistance standing.”

Cody found himself suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, clearly he’d been spending too much time with the Wolfpack if the habit was already rubbing off on him. He moved in so Obi-Wan could lean on his shoulder. “I you think I’m letting you shower alone you’ve got another think coming. Stitches will have my hide if you pass out and bash your head open.”

A thread of affection came across their bond. “I’m glad you offered. I need someone to help scrub the bacta out of my hair. And,” Obi-Wan gave a pointed sniff, “You smell like sand.”

He laughed, helping Obi-Wan ease off the cot and lean against him. “Then let’s both get cleaned up before Commander Tano gets here and is scandalized.”

This time there was definite amusement from Obi-Wan.

“Is it this…” Cody paused, waiting a moment as Obi-Wan tried to put weight on the leg in the brace and realized exactly what a bad idea it was. When Obi-Wan was done hissing in pain he went on, “This thing, between us. Is it supposed to work like this? I can feel… and hear?”

Obi-Wan paused, looking up at him, eyes very blue this close, “Yes, it’s supposed to. If you push I might be be able to hear a little of you as well. Unless you don’t want…”

Leaning forward Cody touched his forehead to Obi-Wan’s, doing his best to project his happiness across the bond. “I thought I told you. I want. I  _ always _ want.”

He felt more then saw Obi-Wan’s smile. “I’m glad.” he said softly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of why this took so long was that I realized there was a little more ground we need to cover before we go to Utapau. The ballooning length of this chapter in my notes caused me to chop it in half, but the good news is that this means I have a good chunk of the next chapter already done.
> 
> New tag for this chapter: Referenced/implied self-harm

Cody left a newly cleaned up Obi-Wan settled with Ahsoka, both avidly leaning over the datapad they had balanced on the arm of his wheelchair. They were already deep in conversation, although Ahsoka kept casting Obi-Wan small sideways looks, like she was double checking he was really there.

He could understand that feeling, if he hadn’t had the connection between the two of them he wasn’t sure if he could have stepped away. The feel of their connection a balm to his nerves, soothing where he hadn’t realized he’d been tense. 

The thought of walking away from Obi-Wan already was painful but in theory he did have other responsibilities he should attend to. He knew the rest of his men had been issued bunks somewhere in the southwest portion of the ship but he hadn’t checked on them, too distracted by Obi-wan. They were professionals, they didn’t need a nanny, but after everything on Utapau he wanted to at least lay eyes on them, especially now that Obi-Wan was up and about. At least he could check on one of them while he was here.

A few beds down Gale was sitting up, making a vague attempt at saluting as Cody approached.

“Sir.” he said, then waved at his leg, still in a splint but at least was a more medically approved one than what they’d rigged up on the moon. “Re-break went fine. Medics said I should heal up alright.”

“Glad to hear it.” Cody said, “It’ll be--”

There was a roar of triumph and the next thing Cody knew he was being swept off his feet and into a hug that even in armor made his ribs creak in protest. “Commander Cody, you’re awake!” came a voice as he was twirled around in a dizzying circle.

Wait. He knew that voice. And, now that he thought of it, this hug.

“…Wrecker?” he wheezed.

“Put the Commander down before you snap him.” Hunter’s voice came.

He was dropped back on his feet but before he even had time to stumble he was surrounded by some of the last faces he expected as Crosshair caught him by the shoulder. There was a rare smile on his face but before he could speak Echo and Tech were crowding into Cody’s space. Between the stream of excited jargon from Tech and Echo’s enthusiastic greeting Cody couldn’t quite make a word out, especially when Wrecker waded in to try to make a point.

“Wait, wait.” He held up both hands, quelling the group. “What the kriffing hell are you doing here?”

“Our chips didn’t all work right.” Hunter said, he reached out and they clasped bracers in greeting, “When friendly ships started firing on us for not acknowledging the right hails we went to find someone who would tell us what was going on.”

Cody’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, he hadn’t missed that side step of his question. The squad hadn’t worked with the Wolfpack before, they had no reason to assume the  _ Faithful  _ was any more friendly than whatever ship they’d encountered before. But if they’d come here specially for him or Rex…

He sighed and turned to Tech, “Please tell me whatever tacker you put on me can’t be seen by anyone but you.”

The other man looked offended at the thought. “Sir! I would never be so sloppy, I--”

Hunter interjected, pulling Tech back behind him, “No harm meant, Commander, just a precaution. Not everyone was as… understanding of our methods. We weren’t sure what we were dealing with when we started being attacked. But Captain Rex filled us in.”

“Did someone check over your chips?” he asked.

“Commander Tano did. Cleared us all.” Hunter said but Cody didn’t miss the guilty look Wrecker cast at some of the other occupied cots.

Leaning slightly to the side to look around the squad Cody checked and saw several 104th troopers who looked a bit worse for wear.

“Explain.” he said, crossing his arms. Silently he waited, watching Hunter do his best to avoid his eyes as Wrecker started to visibly sweat. Even Crosshair, looked vaguely guilty, hand going up to touch the bacta patch on the back of his head.

It was Echo who rolled his eyes but stepped forward with an explanation.

“We had some partial activations.” he said, “Hunter had head pain, Crosshair had a seizure, and Wrecker went after Commander Tano. She’s fine, but some 104th men got dented the process.”

“I also bounced Captain Rex off a wall.” Wrecker said sheepishly.

Cody wasn’t sure what his face did in that moment but Hunter hurriedly a another step forward. “It was an accident.” he said.

It always was with Wrecker. Pinching the bridge of his nose Cody sighed again.“ _How_ _hard_ did you bounce him off a wall?”

“Concussion,” Echo said. “Wrecker put him down pretty hard and he was a little out of it for a while.”

“I didn’t  _ mean  _ to hit him that hard,” Wrecker said, his voce showing actual distress, as he shifted guilty, “I was just trying to get to Commander Tano and--” his elbow caught a tray of tools and tipped it over, sending several implements clattering to the floor.

The noise made every trooper in the medical start to some sort of alertness, several sitting up in bed and making pained sounds at the strained injuries.

Stitches descended with the wrath of a medic scorned, trailed by two other 104th medics who looked equally grim. “That’s it.” Stitches said, “Third strike, you lot. Get out of my medbay.” He pointed at the ARC trooper who had been sitting at another trooper’s bedside, “West,  fretting over it isn’t going to make his bones unbroken, make yourself useful and go escort these walking disasters to the rec room.” The look he shot Wrecker highly suggested this wasn’t the first tray they’d overturned.

Honestly Cody was surprised there hadn’t been more damage, the Bad Batch were rough on the surroundings at the best of times. They must have been trying to behave. 

But faced with an angry medic they were smart enough to back down, especially when Cody didn’t countermand the order. The ARC Stitches had deputized moved grudgingly from from his brother’s bedside to wave the the squad to follow him. “This way.” West said, aiming a particularly black look at Wrecker.

Visibly brightening Wrecker wandered over and gave the man what passed for a friendly shove with him, which made West stagger. 

“Come on now,” he said, “We’re not the worst bunch to be stuck with.”

West scowled at him. “You broke my batchmate’s arm, I don’t like you.”

That just made Wrecker blink, “I could… break yours too?” he offered.

Cody was about the step forward to intervene but Tech was already inserting himself between them, asking West something about droid controls. Apparently it was enough to distract the ARC trooper and he led Tech and Wrecker out without them starting a brawl in the medical, Crosshair rolling his eyes but following behind.

That left only Echo and Hunter, who exchanged a pointed look. From the aggressive eyebrow quirking going on some sort of exchange was passing between them, finally Echo sighed and flicked a few quick battlesigns at the sergeant. They weren’t standard ones, probably squad specific but they made Hunter snort.

“I’ll see you at the meeting then, Commander.” he said, before leaving the way the others had gone.

Cody turned to Echo, “What’s wrong and why are you the one to tell me?”

Instead of answering Echo waved at him to follow and headed down the line of cots. The last in the row had been curtained off, only the feet of the trooper lying on it visible.

He wouldn’t have been able to identify many people by their feet alone but in between the bacta patches was a distinctive scar over the big toe.

Cody frowned. What exactly had Rex been doing the warrant that many patches on his feet? That couldn’t have been from being bounced off a wall.

Together they moved into the curtained off area and Cody’s frown only deepened. It wasn’t like Rex to have slept through the racket the squad had been making, he’d always been a light sleeper. He’d been stripped down to his blacks, his armor on the stand next to the cot, his pistols placed carefully just that bit too far from easy reach.

Taking in that and the way he looked pale and strained even in sleep Cody had the distinct feeling he wasn’t going to like the answers he was about to get.

“How long was he up pacing?” he asked.

“Til about four hours ago.” Echo said quietly. “I had to go make him stop. Sir… you should have seen his feet, they were a mess and he was just still-- he kept walking. And I don’t think it was just the concussion. I tried to… I don’t know how much I helped.”

“But you got him to sleep.”

Echo made a face. “It was more collapse than sleep, honestly. I’m…” he stopped, then sighed, running his flesh hand over his face tiredly. “I’m worried, Commander. I’ve never seen the captain like that. I looked him right in the eye and it was like looking at a ghost. I don’t think it was just the exhaustion,” he paused again, this time glancing up at Cody before his eyes were pulled back to Rex on the bed. He lowered his voice enough that Cody had to lean in to hear him, “I think it’s something else. Everything that’s happened… I know we’re made to be tough but its been a lot, even for a brother. I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t gone looking for him.”

It was a difficult thing but when he spoke Cody’s voice was neutral, “Do you think he would have hurt himself?”

At the words Echo pulled into himself, shoulders hunching. “When I got him to finally sit down his feet were  _ bleeding _ . There’s pacing out the after battle jitters and then there’s--” he shook his head. “I’ve been troopers work til they drop before, but the captain’s always known limits. We’re about to go fight a whole city full of troopers who are going to try to kill us and I-- I’m worried. I don’t know if it’s just… I don’t know. I want to keep an eye on him.”

“You won’t have to,” reaching out Cody tapped Echo’s shoulder plate with his knuckle, the same he would have done with Rex.“ _ We’ll  _ keep an eye on him.” he said. 

That made Echo straighten, turning to look at him, “I’m not just being crazy?”

“No, you’re right.” he said. If he hadn’t been so focused on Obi-Wan he could have noticed the problem himself. He tried to tamp down on the feeling guilt before Obi-Wan felt it across their connection but from the gentle feeling of the hand around his in his mind squeezing comfortingly he probably failed.

This was going to have to be dealt with, preferably before Rex ended up on a battlefield where they would hard pressed to keep an eye on him. The last thing he wanted was one of his men gunning Rex down because he was distracted.

Even in sleep Rex’s face was drawn, his skin had a unhealthy sallow look and the smudges under his eyes were darker than Cody had ever seen before. He lay so still Cody would have thought he was unconscious instead of sleeping but he had the absolute limpness only the truly exhausted had.

Four hours of sleep wasn’t nearly enough.

Echo checked the time, frowning, “The meeting’s starting in a few minutes, I should wake him.”

Reaching out Cody caught his wrist as he went to put a hand on Rex’s shoulder to shake it. “No.” he said firmly, pieces coming together into a conclusion in his mind. “Let him sleep.”

“But, the meeting.” Echo protested, although he was already pulling back, relief clear in the line of his shoulders, the easing of the lines on his face. “They’ll want the captain’s tactical assessment.”

“He was at the preliminary meeting,” Cody said, “Whatever assessments he had he would have given them then. Whatever he comes up with half asleep and-- well, it won’t be his best work. Let him sleep.”

“Of course, sir.” The relief was in Echo’s voice now.

Cody caught the edge of the blanket and pulled it down over Rex’s feet. He remembered from many an ice planet how annoyed cold toes made Rex. He let his hand linger for just a moment on Rex’s ankle, feeling the wrap of a bandage through the thin medical grade cloth. 

Focusing so much on his Jedi he’d let other things slide. He couldn’t afford to be so lax, there were other people who needed him.

There was the whisper of encouragement, of faith, through the bond from Obi-Wan. Cody let it settle around him and put steel back in his spine.

“Commander?” The medic who had appeared at the foot of the cot had long hair for a trooper, caught back in a tail. He looked very young, barely past shiny. “Stitches sent me to tell you the General and Commander Tano are about to leave.” His eyes flicked to Rex’s form then back.

Cody moved back out of the curtained off space, Echo trailing him, and force of momentum pulling the medic with them. Last thing they needed was the sound of a third and unfamiliar voice waking Rex.

“He stays here.” Cody said firmly, jabbing a finger back at Rex to be sure there was no confusion. “Even if he wakes up he doesn’t leave until I come back.”

The medic glanced back at the curtained off area then nodded. “Yes, Commander. I’ll let Stitches know.” he nodded earnestly and kriff was this one shiny, “He’ll be thrilled.” he added then hurried off into the storeroom, face determined.

Mentally Cody put a pin in the Rex situation and put it aside for the moment, on to the next most important thing. Just like every other disaster he’d ended up in the middle of.

One important thing at a time.

\--

Obi-Wan watched out of the corner of his eye as the young medic hurried away from Cody. He tried to not to smile as a very familiar look crossed Cody’s face, it was the one he put on when he was very determinedly slogging through one crisis after another.

If he had had his way Cody wouldn’t have to wear an expression like that ever again but all things considered Obi-Wan was just happy to see any sort of expression on his face. 

Just for the thrill of being able to do it he touched the bond between them, the constant proof that Cody here. There was worry and guilt clinging to Cody’s mind and Obi-Wan wished he could do more then just send comfort and faith through the connection. With the drugs making everything a little fuzzy around the edges he wasn’t sure how effective he was.

“Master?” Ahsoka said and he realized she must have asked him a question. Her tone was so careful, the tension still between them. There hadn’t been much time to speak since she’d returned, all of it caught up in the fresh conflicts the war had thrown at them.

He still should have made time.

“My apologies,” he said, turning his attention back the the datapad balanced between them, “What were you saying?”

“I wasn’t sure if squads of troopers would be most effective in finding people our initial net missed.” she said, “I wanted to take a squad for a sweep myself, it would increase likelihood of us being able to clear troopers without having to knock them out.”

It would also increase the chances of her being shot. But so would just about everything in the plan. “I recommend taking Clone Force 99.” Obi-Wan said. “I believe you would get along with them quite well.”

A grin broke out on her face, “I meet them last night. I like their style. And there was a familiar face with them.” she turned to nod at Echo as he and Cody joined them. Then she blinked and frowned down the medbay. “You didn’t wake Rex?”

There was a flicker of worry from Cody, but his face didn’t show it, “He needs his sleep, Commander.”

She nodded. “I agree, Commander.”

An old joke, the edges worn smooth and familiar with repetition. The small smile they shared like a candle flame in the night, warmth against the darkness even as worry clung to both of them at the mention of Rex.

But whatever that worry was neither of them seemed willing to put it into words, instead they let the feeling spool out between them.

When Obi-Wan pushed a gentle inquiry toward Cody the thought he got in response was  _ ‘Wait’ _ , the overlay of caution.

So he held his piece as they gathered themselves up to leave, Ahsoka and Echo took the lead, talking quietly about some past adventure with the 501st that made them both chuckle.

Obi-Wan could have wished to walk to the meeting under his own power but Stitches had been very adamant about not putting weight on his leg. Unfortunately he was also adamant about Obi-Wan not straining his shoulder so Cody was pushing the chair. Obi-Wan felt little flickers of amusement across their bond and knew some of his disgruntlement was leaking across.

He probably could have walked if he had to. But he’d had enough getting yelled at by medics to last him several lifetimes. Besides there were enough painkillers in his system that the pain was only a background hum but he had no doubt trying to stand again would soon change that.

Now that Ahsoka and Echo were distracted Obi-Wan sent another questioning brush to Cody and this time Cody reached back more strongly. There was worry and the sight of Rex, lying pale and still on the cot. Guilt and Echo’s words, the way he looked down at Rex like he was tracing fault lines with his eyes.

_ We’ll  _ keep an eye on him, Cody had said to Echo, a resolve in him.

Obi-Wan reached out across their bond, underscoring that resolve.  _ ‘You made the right choice.’ _

_ ‘I wish I was as sure as you.’ _ he sent back, the guilt the came with the words had the same feel as the guilt from Obi-Wan’s injuries, a creeping bone deep feeling.

In return he offered what wordless comfort he could. It likely wasn’t enough but with the world spinning rapidly out of control it was all he had to offer.

He wasn’t a general anymore, he might not even be a Jedi, the Order could be all but destroyed for all he knew. There was very little now that was in his power to give.

He could still feel so many silent spaces in the Force where there had only recently been a presences. So many dead in hours, with who knew how many to join them in the days to come.

Without his link to Cody he wasn’t sure if he’d fall into the whirling horror of it all, lose himself to the crashing disaster that made focusing on the present hard if he thought about it too much.

He wished, fervently, that he could managed more in all this than to be protected and dragged off planet, a burden to the escaping troopers.

There was a nudge from Cody across their link and he drew himself out of his thoughts with an effort. He wasn’t sure what he’d been projecting across the bond but Cody was sending worry his way.  _ ‘Problem?’ _

Obi-Wan softened his thoughts, ‘ _ Nothing, nothing, lost in thought.’  _ He turned his head to smile back at Cody.

For now, never mind what he couldn’t fix. There was Utapau and their men. Something they just might be able to pull back from ruin.

The meeting room was crowded however being overcrowded with allies was good issue to have. Cody adeptly maneuvered his chair to the holo display, taking up a post behind him and slightly to the side. Across from them Echo was joining Hunter where he looking over terrain maps, both there to speak for their squad. 

There was a tangle of 104th officers and ARCs around Commander Wolffe, who stood with his helmet under his arm and his customary solemn expression on his face. Obi-Wan followed his line of sight and saw that Ahsoka had gone to speak to Master Plo, pulling him out of conversation with his captain.

Bending slightly Master Plo listened to Ahsoka and nodded, looking up to see Obi-Wan and Cody. 

When he approached there was something in this step that was off, a slight stiffness in his gait giving away the still healing injuries that Ahsoka had mentioned.

“Master Kenobi.” Master Plo greeted him, “I see the medics have allowed you to escape for a bit.” The warmth in his voice showed the smile that his mask covered, Obi-Wan returned it with a wry one of his own.

“Only temporarily, I’m afraid.” he said. “I have been informed by Stitches that I am under a strict time limit.”

Master Plo chuckled. “Well then, we’ll have to put the time to good use.” Turning he gestured, bringing the lights down the half strength and activating the holo display.

Around the room troopers settled, coming in to see the display better, as Ahsoka took her place between him and Master Plo. 

“Now,” Master Plo reached forward to tap a button and bringing up a projection of Utapau, “To business. Master Kenobi, if you’d like to begin?”

Obi-Wan smiled as eyes turned to him, “I believe I have a plan…”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter had some tough conversations in it and some emotional plot points I really hope came through feeling right.   
>  I took a leaf from the Soft Wars verse (which I highly recommend) and have Rex as slightly younger then Cody and Wolffe’s commander class but that he was sort of adopted into Cody’s squad while they were growing up.
> 
> New warning for this chapter: Possible suicidal ideation/suicidal thoughts

The glass was cool under Cody’s hand as he pressed it to the bacta tube, eyes on the form floating peacefully inside. To his surprise Obi-Wan had gone without protest when Stitches had arrived in the meeting room door with a pointed look on his face. Then again Cody had noticed the pain lines growing at the corners of his eyes and the way his complexion was shading more toward the grey as he pressed a hand to his chest.

He wouldn’t have put it past Stitches to have timed that dose of painkillers very pointedly.

With Obi-Wan unconscious the link between them had quieted back down, there was just the vague feeling of connection at the back of his mind. Obi-Wan had told him he didn’t have to stay close for it to remain, now that it had been established the small amount distance a single ship could put between them wouldn’t matter much.

Leaning in he pressed his forehead to the tank, closing his eyes and willing comfort across their link. ‘ _ I’ll be back’ _

Then he straightened and headed back into the main medbay. Stitches caught sight of him and made pointed eyes at the curtained off cot at the other end of the room. Cody shook his head, signing  _ ‘Orders remain’ _ and pretending he didn’t see the medic roll his eyes.

If Rex was still asleep he might as well stay that way, they had a few more hours until they would be ready to make the jump back the Utapau. He probably needed all the rest he could get.

And if Cody was honest with himself, he was more than a little worried what he’d find when Rex woke.

Ruthlessly he shoved the thought down and ignored the extremely annoyed face Stitches was making at him. That situation would hold for just a little longer.

In the meantime he had his own troops to check on and if he hurried he’d probably be able to make it to the mess hall in time to catch them there.

It was extremely convenient most Venator ships had the same layout, he could easily find the quickest way to the mess hall before the noon meal finished being served. A grumbling from his stomach reminded him it’d been quite a few hours since he’d last eaten, he could kill two clankers with one shot.

The mess hall was crowded at this time of day, troopers coming off the morning shift bumping elbows with troopers getting rations before their shift started. He grabbed a tray from the stack and scanned the tables looking for the patch of gold among the grey.

An arm waving caught his eye and he found his men clustered around a table to the left, with Speakeasy grinning as he dropped his arm. They shoved over to make room, faces turning eagerly to him as he settled into the spot.

“Commander, did you see Gale in the medbay?” Moth asked, “How’s his leg?”

“Reset and on the mend.” Cody said, prodding at the grey protein cube on the tray. “Likely going to be a day or so before he’ll be up.”

Toast and Nock, shoulder to shoulder as they too often were exchanged a look then Toast grinned nudging his partner with his elbow, “Twenty credits he’s going to sulk he’s missing out on the fight. Unless it’s going to be that long before we go back?” they both looked to Cody who shook his head.

“Soon.” he confirmed. “Briefing in,” he glanced at the time, “Three hours. Jump not long after.”

All around the table there were satisfied nods, his men were as eager as he was to get back to their brothers on Utapau. 

“C-commander, how is-s--” Stutter’s voice choked as it too often did, they waited while he made a face and tried to force out the next word. After a moment he gave an annoyed huff and made the battle sign for  _ ‘General’ _ .

“Healing.” he said. “He was awake for a bit but they put him back in bacta.”

Bobbin poked his food around the tray, “Was he… you know, okay? He was really out of it even before we crashed.”

Next to him Speakeasy rolled his eyes, “Pain does that to a person, it’s not like we had any decent painkillers on that damn moon.”

“No,” Moth said, “Getting shot off a cliff by your own troopers does that.”

As one they all grimaced at the reminder. Stutter lifted a hand to touch the side of his head, while Toast and Nock shifted closer to each other and Bobbin continued to poke morosely at his food.

“Is he mad, s-sir?” Stutter asked in a small voice and all his men were leaning in now, watching him intently.

“No.” Cody said firmly. “The general knows we were being controlled, he doesn’t blame any of you.” Not that he’d said that in such words but he’d forgiven Cody readily enough and Cody was much more directly responsible for most of the attempts to kill him. “And he’d not the type to hold a grudge.”

Toast laughed, though it was a little more wooden than it might have normally been, “Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t be very Jedi-like.”

“Is he going to be coming with us planet-side?” Nock asked.

Cody had to restrain the urge to sigh, once more reminded of the debate that had taken a good chunk of the planning time. Most of them knew batca or not Obi-Wan wasn’t going to be healed by the time they reached Utapau and he’d not been the only one arguing strongly for Obi-Wan to stay aboard the  _ Faithful _ . Unfortunately they’d been overruled by not only Obi-Wan’s stubbornness that he would be part of any effort of save the 212th but by a strong set of practicalities.

“We need every Jedi we can field so yes, he’ll be there.” Cody said and didn’t like it one bit.

“Reading between the lines,” Toast’s lips quirked, “Is it safe to assume we’re going to have to carry our general around? Because if so I volunteer Nock for the first round.” His partner gave him an outraged look but before he could do more than open his mouth Speakeasy made a shushing wave.

He was looking up, over the heads of the other seated troopers, and he was frowning. 

Cody followed his eyeline and saw the shiny medic from before. The kid stood, craning his head around, breathing hard as if he’d run here. His hands twisted nervously in front of him, his brow pinched with worry.

That could be nothing but bad news.

Standing he caught the kid’s eye and wasn’t surprised when he immediately hurried his way. 

“Commander, message from Stitches!” he said, words breathless and hurried.

In his gut Cody already knew but he nodded at the man to speak anyway.

“Commander Rex is awake, sir. We tried to keep him there, I swear I only turned my back for a moment and he was  _ gone _ .” The medic wrung his hands, “We tried raising him on coms and nothing.”

Internally Cody swore, trying to shield his mind tight to keep any of his sudden worry from crossing the bond and disturbing Obi-Wan.

“His com’s broken, sir.” said West from one of the Wolfpack tables where he sat with a few other ARCs, “We had to do a sweep with the cleaning droids time we needed to find him.” he reached for a datapad, “I could get them to start one?”

“We could start search pattern too,” Speakeasy said beginning to rise, apparently reading something from his face.

He made an effort and smoothed out his expression, waving Speakeasy back into his seat. “No need for any of that. I know where he’ll be.” he turned to the medic, “Tell Stitches not to worry, I’ll handle it.”

The kid looked doubtful for a moment but swallowed whatever comment he was going to say and hurried back to the medbay.

He turned to grab his half eaten tray but Moth was already sliding it under his own. Nodding his thanks he left, walking briskly but only because running would have worried the men.

Commanders didn’t run unless something was on fire. Or about to be on fire.

And besides, he was actually pretty sure he knew where Rex was.

There were a limited amount of places a person could go for privacy on a Venator, and Cody had served enough battles with Rex to know his preferences for places to hole up.

It took three storage rooms but he eventually got lucky and was able to breath out the breath that felt like it had been caught in his chest since the medic had spoken. He’d known it wouldn’t be true but for a second he’d worried… there were a few places and all too many ways he could have found Rex instead of here.

But in the here and now he found Rex sitting on a storage crate in an out of the way corner of a storage room, back a tired bend, elbows on knees, helmet held in his hands.

He didn’t look up from where his thumb was worrying at a scratch through one of his jaig eyes. “I missed the tactics meeting.” he said hollowly. 

“You missed the tactics meeting.” Cody echoed back. Walking over he sat next to Rex, jostling his knee with his.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Rex said, but his voice was oddly flat, missing the intonation it needed to make it a question.

“You needed the sleep.” he replied.

Rex finally looked over at him and there it was. The burning in his eyes, Cody knew that look from far too many surviving brothers who weren’t sure why they had lived after a hard battle when all too many hadn’t. He’d seen it in their eyes up until they flung themselves into the next conflict, all recklessness and abandon.

“I’m fine.” Rex said, finger still worrying at the scratch.

Gently Cody took the helmet from his hands. His fingers, left empty, had a fine tremor running through them.

“No. You’re not.”

“I  _ am _ .” Rex made a grab for his bucket and missed as Cody held it out of reach. 

“Do I need to bench you?” he asked, voice serious.

It was the wrong thing to say, he could see it in the way Rex flinched, the embers is his eyes flaring with desperate light, “You don’t need too-- I’m fine.” his hands clenched, still shaking and he glared at them “I’m not losing it. Cody, I can still fight. You have to let me help.”

What was a brother who couldn’t help? Who couldn’t fight? Useless. The Kaminoans had drilled that into them in training. Over and over.

“Please.” Rex said.

Good soldiers followed orders.

Cody shoved his helmet back into his grip. “Stop.” he said. “Just… stop.”

Rex blinked at him, fingers curling automatically around his helmet. “I-- what?”

“You’re not alright. None of us are alright. Not after--” Cody took a breath, made himself stop. That wasn’t the right way. He lowered his voice, made sure it was even when he spoke again, “I need you to put yourself in my shoes and give me one good reason I should let you go out there.”

That hit home, Cody watched as Rex’s brow furrowed, wheels turning as he looked for an out. Leaning into Rex’s side he gave him time to turn it over, his frown deepening as he closed off argument after argument, knowing Cody would have a counter for each one.

Minutes ticked by in the gloom as they sat, Cody patiently waiting.

Finally Rex slumped forward, helmet hanging loose from his fingers. “Karking hells.” he hissed, head hanging. “You’re right. Are you happy?”

Cody reached out and tapped a knuckle against Rex’s shoulder plate. “No.” he said.

That startled a shaky laugh out of Rex, but he didn’t raise his head. The curve of his back was a tired line, his shoulders slumped, his head low. Cody leaned harder into his side, trying to ground him, remind him he wasn’t sitting down here alone.

They both jerked when the door opened, looking up to frown at the figure silhouetted there. Wolffe keyed the door closed behind him and took the distance between them in a few strides, dropping down on Rex’s other side. 

“Thought I would find you down here.” he said, leaning in so they bracketed Rex on both sides.

It was just like Kamino, they’d done this a hundred times, sitting with Cody on one side, one of his batchmates on the other, Rex and his distinctive hair hidden between them. But these days Rex wasn’t a tiny cadet they could shove between them and hide. 

Today it felt like the two of them were all that was keeping Rex up.

They had, the three of them, come a long way since Kamino.

With a sigh Wolffe reached out and ruffled Rex’s hair, frowning when that failed to prompt a swipe from him. 

“You scared the hell out of my medics.” he said. “Fletch cried when you vanished on him. Stitches is spitting nails, that’s the second time you’ve disappeared on his watch.” Using the hand in his hair he gently shook Rex’s head, as if he was hoping to rattle his brain back into place. “They’re going to cuff you to your cot next time you end up in the medbay.”

Rex snorted but didn’t look up. His head stayed bowed under Wolffe’s hand, the slump of his shoulders defeated.

Glancing over Rex’s back Cody caught Wolffe’s eye and raised his free hand where Rex wouldn’t see it.

_ Major injury,  _ he signed,  _ Proceed with caution. _

_ Affirmative.  _ Wolffe signed back with a quick flicker of fingers. He still had the other hand in Rex’s hair, his fingers shifted so he was cupping his head, a protective gesture.

“You know,” he said into the growing silence between them, “Every time I close my eyes now, I see this plume of smoke.”

There was a slight tilt in Rex’s head, the only indication he was listening.

“When we shot down my general’s starfighter there was this column of smoke rising up. I just keep seeing it, like it’s on the back of my eyelids.” Wolffe drew in a breath, a little shaky, but kept on,“Every time I see it I realize how close I came to losing General Plo, how kriffing lucky we all were. If things had gone a little different I wouldn’t be here and neither would my men. We’d still be fighting for that bastard of a Sith without a thought of our own. I spent all yesterday having to keep eyes on my Jedi, just so I knew for sure he wasn’t going to vanish.” he scrubbed a hand tiredly over his prosthetic eye. “Not sure I would have fallen asleep at all if I hadn’t done it sitting next to him.” Wolffe slanted an eyebrow at Cody over Rex’s head, a prompt if he’d ever seen one.

“I can’t throw stones.” Cody said, “I might or might not have woken up with a crick in my neck from falling asleep against a bacta tube.” That got the expected snort of laughter from Wolffe, still silence from Rex. “I know what you mean though. All that time I was waiting on that moon with my men, I just sat there, punching the Jedi down code into the channel and keeping eyes on my general. I was half convinced if I took my eyes off him for too long he’d stop breathing.” If he didn’t have that constant sense of Obi-Wan’s presence in the back of his mind even now he wouldn’t have been able to leave, even after talking with him. They had all come so kriffing close.

“You were lucky I remembered to check that channel.” Wolffe said, “Without us you would have been left with just this idiot and Commander Tano. Speaking of which,” he shook Rex’s head again, but gently, getting his attention, “What the hell did you think you were doing, showing up guns blazing like that? If you thought we were still controlled jumping out of the ship was a stupid move.”

Seconds ticked by, as they both waited, silence stretching until Rex sighed.

“I wasn’t. Thinking I mean. Not really. I just…” his shoulders pulled in, fingers tightening on his helmet. “My men are dead. Anakin is  _ dead _ . When I heard the ping I thought maybe, even if I couldn’t save my general, I could try and save his master.”

At that Cody gave up and slung an arm around Rex’s shoulders, forcing him to straighten. “You saved Ahsoka. She wouldn’t have survived without you there.”

Rex’s lips quirked in a grim smile, “She’s a lot more resilient than anyone gives her credit for. I think even if I hadn’t been there she would have made it out alright.”

Something occurred to Cody and he frowned, a suspicion creeping into his mind. “Wolffe, where is General Koon?”

“On the bridge.” Wolffe said immediately. He glanced over at him and apparently read his mind because he asked, “Where’s General Kenobi?”

“In bacta in the medbay.” he said. 

Together they both looked inward to where Rex was staring fixedly at his helmet.

“Where’s Ahsoka?” Cody asked gently.

Rex winced, “I don’t… in quarters I suppose.”

“You  _ suppose _ ?” Wolffe echoed incredulously. “You didn’t check on your Jedi?”

“She’s not a Jedi.” Rex said, but there was no fire in it, the words came out like they were a practiced response. “She left.”

That made Wolffe snort, “She’s a Jedi in all the ways that count and you know it. Now the real question is why didn’t you glue yourself to her side like we did with our generals? Have you even really talked to her since you both escaped?”

Looking down Cody saw Rex’s hands where white knuckled on his helmet. The silence stretched heavy.

Under Cody’s arm his shoulders were drawing in, tension building in his muscles as he looked resolutely down instead of meeting either of their stares.

Finally Wolffe lost patience. “Why not?” he prompted and he shook Rex’s head again but this time he did it sharply, pulling his attention back from wherever it had drifted.

Rex actually snarled, shaking Cody’s arm off so he could slap Wolffe’s hand away. “You know why!” he snapped. He was turned away to face Wolffe but Cody didn’t need to see his face to know the glare on it. “Out of the three of us, which commander got all his men killed? Which one of us wasn’t with his general when it counted? Which of us failed both our Jedi?”

“Not your fault.” Cody said and Rex whipped around to fix his glare on him. There was that fire again, the desperate burning behind his eyes, so hot it was burning him up inside. Cody smacked his palm into Rex’s shoulder plate, hard enough to make him sway back, interrupting whatever he’d been opening his mouth to say.

Cody weighed what he was going to say, calling to the Force that Obi-Wan put so much faith in to help him to say this right. “Sometimes… you have to accept that things happen and they aren’t your fault. You can’t control everything, vod, especially when forces bigger then yourself decided to move. 

“We’re just clones, all we can do is decide what we do when things fall apart. And you did the best you could.”

The fire vanished from Rex’s eyes like Cody had dumped a bucket of water over him and he crumpled, one hand coming up cover his eyes as his shoulders shook. “It’s not that simple.” Rex whispered.

It was Wolffe’s turn to put an arm around his shoulders. “It never is.” he said and the shadows in his eyes were full of an exploding ship with only four survivors. Almost all his men dead in a matter of hours. “Hurting yourself or doing something stupid in battle isn’t going to bring your men back. And I know for a fact those 501st boys would punch you in the head for pulling that.”

Cody leaned into Rex’s other side, feeling the tremor running through him. “Your men, what happened to them?”

“They  _ died _ .” Rex said quietly.

“I know.” he said patiently, “But after.”

“Ahsoka and I buried them. Where the ship crashed.” he shivered. “We searched until we found them all.”

And Cody could just imagine them, two determined forms, crawling through the wreckage until every body was found. “When all this is settled we’ll go back for them. Give them a proper pyre and a sendoff.”

Rex dropped his helmet, burring his face in his hands, shaking.

They crowded in close, letting him know they were still there. Cody slung his arm over Wolffe’s both of them holding Rex as he shook.

“I promise, vod.” Cody said. “We’ll go back for them.”

\--

An hour passed as they sat together down in the hold. Cody and Wolffe tried their best to fill the silence with stories about the 104th or 212th doing something stupid, light stories from before Order 66 darkened their lives. With the antics of the latest batch of shinies, which had been very young and far too easy to prank, they had plenty of stories.

After a bit Rex spoke into the next silence, telling a stories about Fives and Echo as shines that Cody remembered dearly which made Wolffe cackle.

Cody responded with one about Waxer and Boil.

Wolffe countered with a yarn about Boost and Sinker.

Rex laughed and for the first time it didn’t ring hallow.

Behind his back Cody and Wolffe exchanged a glance. It wasn’t a fix, not by a long shot, but it was a start.

Eventually they convinced Rex to relocate with them up to one of the rooms off the armory. On the way up Cody discreetly sent a com message so there was someone already at the door when they got there.

Ahsoka looked a bit tentative as she clutched a weapons cleaning kit to her chest. Seeing them approach she gave a careful smile. “Rexster,” she said, warmth suffusing her voice, “I heard you were up. Would you like to…” she shifted the kit in her arms, eyes flicking anxiously over Rex from head to toe, “I know you haven’t done your post battle weapons check and I need to check over my ‘saber so… I thought we could do that together? Unless there’s something else you need to be doing?”

The glance Rex sent Cody’s way said he knew what he was up to, to which Cody offered his most innocent expression, backed up by Wolffe’s carefully neutral expression.

When his gaze returned to Ahsoka he smiled, a fond expression. “You’re right, that is something I need to do.” he stepped forward to stand beside her, “If it’s alright with you, Commander, I’d like to join you.”

Her smile grew and she punched him in his arm, “I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t. Come on.” She led the way into the room, Rex following behind without even a glance back.

The door closed behind them and Cody nodded to himself. That was both the younger siblings settled for a bit. Given enough time and a task between them he didn’t have any doubt they’d work some things out, to both their benefit.

Wolffe shifted into place at Cody’s elbow, “You going to bench him?” he asked quietly.

“We’re going to need every officer we have.” Cody replied. “So no, even though I want to.”

“Yeah, I figured.” Wolffe clapped him on the shoulder, “If it’s any help, I’d make the same call.”

It did and they both knew it.

Exchanging nods they parted, Wolffe to head to the bridge and Cody back to the medbay. With his checks done and having laid eyes on his people he could give in to the urge to go back to his vigil.

It took longer then he would have thought to talk Stitches down, he was still in a frothing rage that Rex had slipped through his fingers a second time, especially since they’d been keeping an eye on him. 

Once he was sure Stitches wasn’t going to hunt Rex down and drag him back by his ear he spared a few minutes to tell Gale his squad had been asking after him. After a bit of negotiating he managed to wrangle them visiting rights, especially after he pointed out the medbay was almost empty now that the troopers only mild dented by Wreckers had been discharged.

Gale had looked thrilled at the result, which made it worth it.

That done and a com message already sent off to the rest of the 212th squad about their new visitation rights he slipped back into Obi-Wan’s room.

To his surprise there was already someone in front of the bacta tank.

General Koon turned to look over his shoulder, something about the tilt of his head suggesting a smile. “Ah, Commander. I was wondering where you were.”

“I was seeing to some responsibilities.” Cody said. “Commander Wolffe is headed for the bridge, he thought he’d find you there.”

“I wished to check on my old friend. And, to tell you truth, I had hoped to catch you alone for a word.”

Cody frowned, coming up to stand next to him in front of the tube where Obi-Wan floating, pale and silent, his mind a quiet pressure in the back of Cody’s awareness. “Sir?”

“I was watching the both of you during the meeting.” General Koon said. “I couldn't help but notice how well you both communicated. You passed Obi-Wan several things without him asking and he paused to let you add a vital detail twice.” General Koon stroked his mask thoughtfully, talons scraping lightly on the metal. “I was reaching out in the Force and I could have sworn I felt something between the two of you.”

Cody could feel the blood draining from his face, he struggled to pull his face into something like neutrality. “I’m not sure what you’re implying, sir.” he said. Had they been that obvious? There was no more GAR, officially, but that didn’t mean there couldn’t still be repercussions.

They were still a Jedi and a clone in a world that considered him property.

With a chuckle General Koon turned back to look at Obi-Wan, clasping his arms behind his back. His eyes crinkled in a smile, “Whatever it is you’re worrying over, I can assure you I mean you no ill will, Commander. I find myself glad Obi-Wan has found someone he feels, ah, particularly  _ close _ to.”

It was a struggle to keep his face neutral through that, he wanted very badly to wince, “I have no idea what you could mean, General Koon.” he said, stiffly.

And that was definitely a smile on General Koon’s face. “Of course.” he replied. “You know, there is nothing wrong with you two being together.”

“But Jedi don’t--” Cody cut himself off, realizing he was about to parrot the Jedi Code to a Master of that very order.

General Koon raised an eyebrow, “Don’t what, Commander? Care for others?”

“Have attachments.” he said, the words bitter on his tongue. He’d never dared say it around Obi-Wan, he was a little afraid if he brought up how the other man was breaking his Code he might lose him. They’d always been Commander and Jedi first and foremost, everything else after. He’d never wanted to question his luck.

“I think you are mistaken.” General Koon said and his voice was kind as he turned to set a hand on Cody’s shoulder, talons scraping gently on his armor. “We aren’t allowed attachments, yes but love, that we are allowed in abundance.”

He shook his head, “I don’t see how you can love someone without being attached.”

“Let me rephrase it then. Would being together prevent you from leading your men? Or Obi-Wan from doing his duty as a Jedi? It hasn’t so far and I assume your relationship is no new development.”

For the second time in as many hours Cody felt himself flush. “I--we--”

General Koon held up his other hand to cut him off, “No need, it’s hardly my business to ask. But my point remains. The both of you put your duty above your emotions, your  _ attachment _ . That is what the Code encourages, not forsaking all ties. We would be poor peacekeepers if we put all love aside. There is room inside the Code for many types of love.”

“He’s my commanding officer.” Cody said. “Even if the Jedi didn’t have a problem with it the GAR certainly would.”

The general patted his shoulder, “There is no GAR anymore, not as we know it. If they use mindless clones as their troops then the very system you served is no longer in effect anymore. Who would there be who still has authority over a freed clone to punish you?” General Koon shook his head, “Any officer who was not a clone who went along with this madness is no longer fit to serve in their rank.”

“But the war--” Cody started and General Koon shook his head again.

“We were in the end days of this war to begin with, now… I believe with the Sith lord’s plan coming together it will have all but ended. He would need relative peace to solidify his power.”

Cody could see it, if the Chanceller was playing both sides all long, how he could easily pull strings to bring the Separatists back into the fold. Or maybe destroy them altogether and seize their planets, bringing their wealth and resources back into the Republic.

Assuming there even was still a Republic.

The Chanceller had set the universe on fire for power, who was to say he hadn’t destroyed the Republic along with the Jedi?

From across their bond Cody felt a whisper of a question, the feeling of concern as Obi-Wan sensed the dark turn his thoughts had taken. He sent back assurances quickly, before he could accidentally pull Obi-Wan into wakefulness.

When he felt Obi-Wan shift back into a deeper sleep Cody blinked and realized General Koon was watching him very carefully.

“Sir?” he asked.

The general’s head was cocked to the side, was if he was inspecting something but with his eye protectors Cody couldn’t quite make out if he was looking at him or around him.

“Very interesting.” he said. “I believe after we settle the matter of aiding your troops there is something I wish to discuss with you.”

Cody frowned. “We have a few hours before the mission briefing.”

“No, I believe this is best discussed later, when we are not about to head into unrest.” General Koon said. “It will be nothing dire, I assure you.”

“If you… say so, sir.” Cody said. The entire conversation had left him feeling strange and wrong-footed. To be free of looming punishment from the GAR if they were ever discovered was a heady thought.

General Koon’s com beeped and he lifted it to read the message. Whatever it was made him chuckle. “Well, Commander, I will leave you to your vigil. It appears Wolffe has noticed I have been absent from the bridge for longer than expected. I wouldn’t wish to worry him.”

With one last long look in Cody’s direction the general withdrew, sweeping out of the room in a billow of robes as if he hadn’t just turned Cody’s life upside down.

An end to the war. Freedom from the military. A life together with Obi-Wan.

All things no clone would have ever been allowed before. Then again, Order 66 had changed everything, had pulled apart the very foundations of Cody’s world.

He wasn’t upset to see some parts of it crumble.

Assuming they all made it out of this alive, perhaps he could actually allow himself to make good on those daydreams of a peacetime life.

He shook his head, setting possible future plans aside. That was getting ahead of himself. For all he knew they would all get shot on Utapau and this would be moot.

Grabbing the chair from the corner he pulled it over to the bacta tube where he’d had it in the morning.

Cody pressed his hand against the glass, glad it wouldn’t be long until Obi-Wan was up again. He reached out, to bond between them that he didn’t fully understand but was painfully grateful for all the same. 

‘ _ I’m back.’ _

The hand around his in his mind squeezed and Cody felt himself smile, settling back into his chair for another few hour’s watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next story, Utapau!


End file.
